Auric smiled. "Thank you. That is enough."
"That's enough?" Cain had only shown it for one second, but Auric thought it was enough?
He expected to do it for at least thirty seconds, so he was surprised by the speed, which made him even more doubtful.
"So, what's wrong with me?" Cain asked.
"There is an energy accumulation on the left side of your chest. It looks like you have been practicing quite a powerful technique, obviously not the one you just showed me."
"What? How did you know?" Cain gasped. It was only for one second, but Auric could actually extract that much information. He simply couldn't believe it.
"Yes." Auric could suggest a change in battle technique, but it looked like for this kind of customer, he should treat him immediately.
Besides, his sister looked loaded, so it should be fine to charge him the full amount.
"All we need to do is dissolve the accumulation of energy." Auric pointed to the side. "Please face that way."
Auric finally gained control of the pace of the conversation after shocking Cain.
As soon as he placed his hand on Cain's back, Auric's energy immediately flowed into his chest, dissolving some of the accumulated energy.
"This… There was slight discomfort in my chest before, but now it feels more relaxed…" Cain was stupefied. It actually worked.
However, Auric immediately stepped back.
"Wait. What are you doing?" Cain obviously wanted to get rid of that discomfort as quickly as possible.
On the other hand, Auric simply reminded him, "The treatment itself won't be complicated. Since it's 10% with the intensity rating of 3.3, the treatment cost is 33,000 credits."
"What?" Cain was stunned. He had definitely forgotten the payment.
It was normal for the evolution master to receive the payment after the diagnosis. Auric simply showed that the treatment was possible before asking for payment so that Cain wouldn't argue further.
"Ah, right!" Angelina, who had been amused the whole time, hurriedly replied, "I'll pay."
"Please, this way." Auric nodded gracefully, leading her to the counter.
Cain blinked a few times, unsure how to react. After finding out that the treatment was possible, the skepticism had disappeared from his mind. He started sweating as he had shouted at an evolution master.
"I'm sorry for my younger brother's attitude." Angelina bowed to him. "I will pay extra if necessary. Please don't hold a grudge against my brother."
"It's fine." Auric waved his hand. "The fee is 33,000 credits. Do you want to pay by cash or card?"
"Card, please." Angelina took out a white card.
Auric processed the payment and gave her the receipt. "Alright. Let's begin the evolution."
"Yes!" Angelina showed her excitement more than Cain. Auric had proven his skill, so she definitely felt more at peace.
Auric said no more and entered the room again. Cain was already sitting still, not daring to move from his position.
In addition, Angelina was glaring daggers at him as if she were telling him, 'What did I tell you?'
Cain was crying inwardly, but Auric already understood the skepticism that would come from his age. So, he paid no mind to it as long as they paid him.
"Please relax." Auric placed his hand on his back again and started channeling his energy.
Cain closed his eyes as the discomfort gradually disappeared from his body. His face became more and more relaxed as time passed.
Angelina didn't have to get confirmation from Auric since she could already see it from her brother's expression.
'I have heard that a high-level evolution master can treat someone before the evolution begins to increase the rate of survival. Is he at their level even though he's only a bronze evolution master?'
Angelina wouldn't have believed this if she hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes. She thought to herself, 'I'm gonna brag to those girls later.'
After several minutes, Auric finally stepped back while asking, "Do you still feel any discomfort?"
"This…" Cain circulated the energy in his body. The circulation was as smooth as he could ever remember. "None."
"Good. You can proceed with the evolution at your discretion. I will watch from the side in case something happens, so please be at ease." Auric nodded.
Cain paused for a bit before checking his information.
Name: Cain Delvane
Avatar: Sylph
Grade: C
Affinity: Typhoon Wind
Element: Wind (100%)
It had been 110% earlier, but after the treatment, the number had decreased to a perfect level.
Cain closed his eyes and started the evolution. The sylph closed its wings and curled up as the wind formed a cocoon around her.
The wind continued to circulate as Auric observed the evolution carefully. He memorized the amount of energy and the intensity to keep everything as a reference.
Since the treatment was successful, the sylph finished her evolution in just five minutes.
"Congratulations. Your avatar has evolved successfully." Auric nodded, satisfied.
Cain couldn't believe that his evolution would be so smooth.
"Thank you very much, Master Auric." Angelina bowed one more time. "Once again, I'd like to apologize for my brother's behavior earlier. Hurry, you too."
"I'm sorry." Cain couldn't say anything else. In fact, he was scared that if an evolution master held a grudge, he might spread the word so that other evolution masters wouldn't treat him.
Auric waved his hand, treating it as no big deal. "It's fine. You've apologized enough. Do you have any other concerns?"
"No." Cain shook his head weakly.
"Can I…" Angelina surprisingly made a request. "…take a picture with you?"
Auric smiled wryly. He half-expected this would happen, considering there had been many classmates who wanted to take a picture with him as well.
"Sure," answered Auric casually, ignoring Lindwurm, who was laughing at the request.
After taking a picture together, the brother and sister finally left the store.
Meanwhile, Lindwurm pointed his palm toward the room as his energy swept through the room, leaving no trace of the evolution. This way, Auric could use the room again.
"See? It's clean in an instant." Lindwurm was proud of his power.
However, Auric simply rolled his eyes while saying, "Yeah, but you also eat a lot. 50,000 credits per day, and we only earned 34,000 just now."
"We are just getting started." Lindwurm harrumphed. "Besides, shouldn't you use materials and charge a higher price?"
"If they're very loaded, sure. If not, we will just help each other out. They're already risking their lives to make a living, so I'm not taking advantage of people like that." Auric shrugged.
"Then, at least, you should ask for the most powerful battle technique. This way, you can get the battle technique that will give you the greatest amount of energy."
"I didn't ask earlier because I thought about a battle technique the person feels most comfortable with. If he wanted to show off, he would use the one he is most confident in, so he must have fully mastered it. It's just like a voice recording without any noise."
Auric had seen it from Arina's case. Fortunately, only one arm had a problem, so he could use the other arm as an example. In addition, he could read the explanation directly.
However, it was not possible for others. He could only observe, so it was better to base it on their confidence level rather than their strength.
If he could read the manual, it would be good, but if he only read the manual without seeing the actual thing, he would have a hard time figuring out the basic property to draw that specific element.
So, Auric preferred to become an evolution master.
"Maybe, after I get more experience and polish my skills further, I can go straight for the most explosive one."
"You can ask for my help, you know?" Lindwurm pointed at himself.
"You know my answer. No. I'm not going to rely on you." Auric shrugged. "Anyway, I should start writing down the manual and practicing it. The sooner I have all nine elements, the faster I won't have to turn away patients."
"Fair point," Lindwurm agreed. Currently, Auric has three elements: plant, earth, and unique.
The earth element itself might be the extreme variant, but it would take time for the steel technique to reach the maximum value. So, his power was currently limited.
This was the drawback of having all the elements. The time he would take to fill up the elements would increase drastically. Fortunately, because he had no avatar, his speed would be much faster than that of others.
Still, Auric couldn't waste his time doing nothing.
"That's right. I think you need a guard as well, don't you think?" Lindwurm asked. "If the person you have helped ends up trying to hurt you, you need the ability to resist. Your reputation won't be enough to stop crazy people."
"Once they evolve, they are certainly stronger than me. However, I should be able to use my Void Step to get out of the store and ask for help, right?"
"Yeah, you can, but you have to be vigilant all the time."
"That's why I prefer to treat them before the evolution. This way, I can maintain a considerable distance. But it's true that if the sister decides to attack me, I will be quite defenseless. Should I ask them to leave?"
"Maybe we should install a monitor, like the one in the Evolution Association! Let me do it…" Lindwurm clapped his hand.
The energy flowed into the top of the room. Inside the room, a camera formed. On the other side, a monitor formed, showing exactly what was happening inside the room.
"You have to work if you want to eat," Auric snuck in a comment while looking away.
"I never said I'm going to leech off you." Lindwurm pouted. "Well, should we get glass panels as well?"
"We shouldn't, right? The element might pass through and ruin the materials outside."
"Who are you talking to?" Lindwurm made a smug smile. "This entire layout comes from my power, so my power will block theirs. There's no way for the element to leak out."
"Oh?! If that's the case, you can do that as well." Auric thought for a moment. "Hmph. I think it's better to install the actual camera."
"Why? You are not satisfied with my power?"
"No. We can record our treatment. In the case of an accident, we can prove ourselves innocent. And if there are burglars, we can report them using it as evidence."
"That's…" Lindwurm could show it with his own power, but it was better not to show his power in front of others. It looked like he had no choice but to agree. "Fine."
Looking at the rejected Lindwurm, Auric added, "Well, we can keep the glass window."
"Right?!" Lindwurm became energetic again.
"Anyway, we'll gradually improve the store." Auric walked to the counter while taking the book from under the desk. He started writing down the knowledge he had just acquired.
"Indeed. For that, we need money." Lindwurm nodded vigorously. "Hence, I believe we will have more customers today! For the sake of my food! I mean, for the sake of the store!"
"Yeah, yeah." Auric became uninterested in responding to Lindwurm, as he had shifted his focus to his notes.
Lindwurm was waiting with enthusiasm. Since they had just opened the store, the closing time would still be far off.
He believed someone would soon come to evolve.
Or so he thought.
After an hour of waiting, the store had no other visitors.
Two hours later, still no customers.
After another two hours, Lindwurm started looking downcast while Auric stared at him with a blank gaze as he ate his instant noodles.
Five hours later, the sky had turned orange, yet the store was still empty.
"Why?!" Lindwurm roared while flying around the store. "Why are there no customers?!"
"Our store is not popular yet, so not many people know about it. It will take time before we get a stream of customers." Auric shook his head helplessly. He had been practicing the whole time, so he wasn't bored.
Lindwurm, on the other hand, sensed an existential crisis. "Won't I disappear at this rate?"
"As I said, it takes time."
"No. For my survival, I have to change the store again!"
"What?" Auric's eyebrows twitched. "Back to the material store?"
"What are you talking about? I'm going to add a billboard in front of the store with your face on it! We will definitely get a lot of female customers!"
"Oi. Are you selling out your owner?"